High-street lookalikes give Lateral's guests something to puzzle over
Lizzy Skrzypiec joins Map Men's Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones, while Answer in Progress supplies the week's other guest trio.
Lateral with Tom Scott
Story of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
The lookalikes on your high street
Bakery display cakes, costume masks, fashion knockoffs: viewers offered quite a shopping list beneath Lateral with Tom Scott's "The lookalikes on your high street." The question sent people toward very different kinds of stores, with several comments eventually turning to similarly named or packaged medicines in pharmacies.
That was the most watched of the channel's three new uploads, reaching about 36,000 views. Lizzy Skrzypiec joined Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones, the duo behind the geography-comedy series Map Men. One viewer recognized something of Alex Horne's insistence on reading the task carefully; others shared the point at which the answer clicked for them. It is a particularly Lateral kind of participation: watching the guests think while quietly testing your own theory.
Sabrina Cruz, Melissa Fernandes and Taha Khan of Answer in Progress appeared in both "The Internet's run by... humming!?" and "The war of the Soups and Sparks." Their subjects were vibrations and a waged war, respectively. The latter is currently drawing the most daily views of the three, even though the high-street question has the larger total.
The channel added a thousand subscribers over the week, though today's viewing is well below its usual daily level. Among nearby podcast channels, its weekly view gain was almost identical to Bach and Arthur Podcast's; Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker had a much busier week. For Lateral, the new collection offers two distinct guest groups and three more chances to arrive at an answer before the panel does.
Published on Trari
Where next?
What viewers say
I was so sure it was going to be a bakery where they had those styrofoam wedding cakes on display.
@amylivingston4590See it on YouTubeA shop where you can't reach the shelves - an inconvenience store.
@hadz8671See it on YouTubeI was convinced it was a fancy dress shop and these were lookalike masks.......
@the-tessellaterSee it on YouTube
5 more comments
"Where is she?"
Me, jokingly:
…
"The placebo shop."
Can't believe how close I was. 😆@cannot-handle-handlesSee it on YouTubeThey're all real... except for the placebos, which aren't... but are, because they're real placebos. 😵💫
@HwAoRrDkSee it on YouTubeThis has the Air ofAlex Horne's "All the information is on the task"
@PianoKwanManSee it on YouTubeI am now reminded of my days working at Walgreen's. Sometimes I pulled shifts as a cashier in the pharmacy. It was a bit of an adventure sometimes (especially since I was in Florida).
@elisam.r.9960See it on YouTubeThe penny dropped for me at 6:15 and I felt very pleased with myself.
@waziotterSee it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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The videos drawing views on Lateral with Tom Scott right now
- Channel
- Lateral with Tom Scott
- Subscribers
- 155,000 ▲ 1,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 208,690
- Videos published this week
- 3
- Video published
- October 6, 2026
- Video views so far
- 35,825
- Views on its first day
- 23,988
The numbers
Here is Lateral with Tom Scott's week in views and subscribers.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which duo makes Map Men?
Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones make the geography-comedy series Map Men and both appear in Lateral's high-street question.